Car-door mechanism.



PATBNTED MAY 30, 1905. c. A. LINDSTRUM & J. F. STREIB.

GAR DOOR MECHANISM.

APPLIOATION FILED-TUNE 15,1904.

5 SHEBTSSHEET 1.

,mveb ronsv WITNESSES uwnmacmrwzn m 5min" wmms mm B. mam "w vu PATENTE'D MAY-80, 1905. 0. A. LINDSTRUM &'J. P. STRBIB. 7

OAR DQOR MEGHANISM' APPLICATION FILED JUNE15.1904.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2 WITNE SSES W No. 791,348. PATENTED MAY 30, 1905.

0. A. LINDSTRUM & J. F. STREIB.

GAR DOOR MECHANISM. APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 15,1904.

5 SHEETSSHEET 3 imp- PATENTED MAY 30, 1905.

0. A. LINDSTR GM & J. F. STREIB.

GAR DOOR MECHANISM.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 15.1904.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

WITNESSES INVENTORS Q. 44m

. I PATENTED MAY 30, 1905. 0. A. LINDSTRUM & J. P. STREIB.

GAR DOOR MECHANISM.

APPLIGATION FILED JUNB 15,1904.

' 5 SHEETS-SHEET 5 S R O T N E V m WlTNESSES UNITED STATES Patented May 30, 1905.

PATENT OF ICE.

OHARLES'A. IIINDSTROM, OF ALLEGHENY, AND J OHN'F. STREIB, OF AVALON, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNORS TO PRESSED STEEL OAR COMPANY, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, CORPORATION OF NEW JERsEY.

CAR-DOOR MECHANISM- SPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 791,348, dated May 30, 1905.

Application filed June 15, 1904. Serial No. 212,689. I

To all whmn it may concern:

Be it known that we, OI-IARLEs A. LIND- s'rRoM, of Allegheny, and JOHN F.STREIB, of Avalon, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania,

have invented a new and useful Oar-Door Mechanism, of which the following is a full, ,clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is an end elevation of a car pro-'- 'part of the figure is shown in section on a vertical plane in advanceof the worm-shaft, and the left-hand part of the figure is' in vertical section on a plane back'of the worm-shaft. Fig. 4 is a plan view on a larger scale. Fig. 5 is an irregular vertical longitudinal section on the line V V of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view on the line VI VI of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a side elevation of a car, partly'in vertical section, showing a modifiedconstrud tion of the invention applied to a car whose doors are hinged on axes crosswise of the car. Fig. Sis a vertical section on the line VIII VIII of Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a detail view, be-

ing a horizontal section on theline IX IX of anisms generally used in the past have been of the kind which as soon as the retaining or holding device is released permit the doors to fly open with a shock, releasing at once al- The object of this device is to operate the doors, lock them in position when closed, and

open them gradually to any desired point to.

effect the partial or total discharge of the lading, as circumstances may demand, as, for example, in'distributing ballast along the line of the road the doors may be partially opened and, with the car in motion, the ballast will run out along the track in proportions re quired instead of being discharged at one point, from which it is afterward distributed by shoveling or by means of a wheelbarrow.

Our invention also provides means by which the doors, although elevated by chains attached to their ends. are supported independently of the chains when closed, and also provides means by which such support is constituted by the lifting-shafts themselves, which, after the doors are raised automatically, move into supporting position and cannot be disengaged therefrom until the mechanism is purposely reversed for opening the doors.

In the drawings, 2 indicates the center sill of a car, and 33 are the doors, hinged along the outer sides of the center sill on hinges 4. The car shown in Figs. 1 and 3 has doors along both sides, preferably divided in four sections operated from each corner of the car, although all the doors on a side may be operated from one end of the car. The car shown in the drawings has four such doors, each of which is provided with an opening mechanism comprising a shaft 5, having arolling bearing in an inclined slot 6, formed in castings 7 which extend crosswise of the car. Each shaft has a worm-wheel 8, meshing with a worm 9 on an operating-shaft 10. The worm 9 and shaft 5 are journaled in a frame 11, which is adapted to move transversely with the shaft 5 on a guideway 11, preferably formed in the pushpocket 21 of the car-frame. To facilitate the lateral movement, each shaft 5 has roller portions 6, which bear on shoes 7, and the frame 11 has an antifriction-roller 12. The shafts 10 have hand-wheels 13 for rotating them and,

imparting rotation through the worms 9 and worm-wheels 8 to the respective shafts 5, and each shaft 5 carries a chain 14:, which is connected to the door, the outer end of the door having a shoe 15, whose under side is beveled or inclined and preferably serrated, so as to form a wedge-shaped bearing for engaging a serrated roller 5 upon the shaft. When it is desired to close a door from the open position shown in Fig. 3 the trainman rotates the handwheel 13, and thus rotates the shaft 5 in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 3, thereby causing the shaft to roll along the inclined slots 6, preferably upon the roller-bottoms 6 toward the outside of the car, and to rest in the ends of these slots. The rotation of the shaft will also Wind up the chain 14 and will raise the door. When the door reaches the level of the shaft 5, the winding of the chain thereon will draw the shaft toward the door and will cause it to engage the inclined under side of the shoe 15 and to pass thereunder with a wedging action, and will thus force up the door to the closed position shown in Figs. 1, 6, 7, and 8. These devices, therefore, first roll the shafts outwardly out of the path of the doors, then raise the doors to the level of the-shafts, and,

finally, draw the shafts under the doors, in which position they will relieve the load from the chains and will uphold the doors in a safe and satisfactory way. We believe we are the first to use a chain-shaft to support the door from below when the doors are in the closed positions, thus relieving the chains from carrying the load, and desire to claim it broadly. The worm-wheels will serve as automatic looking devices to hold the parts stationarily in every position in which they may be, so that the trainmen can set the doors either in full open position or partially open, as desired. This is of great importance, especially in the distribution of ballast along the track of a railway or in discharging other lading in a gradual manner. The frames 11 being connected with the shafts 5 travel back and forth with them, carrying the Worm-gearing, which is thus kept constantly in meshing engagement.

In Figs. 7, 8, and 9 we show a modified construction, in which the apparatus is applied to a car having doors which are hinged on axis 4, extending crosswise of the car. In this case the shafts are mounted in slots 6, formed in castings 7; but instead of operating the shafts with worm-gearing we operate them directly with a hand-wheel or lever 13, and we lock them with a ratchet-wheel 16, having a pawl 17, carried by an arbor 18, which by a frame 19 is connected to the shaft 5 and moves back and forth therewith. The rotation of the shaft 5 first winds up the chain and moves the shaft laterally out of the path of the door, and when the door is raised .to the level of the shaft the shaft moves toward and under the door, forcing it up with a wedge action. In these figures we show doors with deep edges or margins to prevent loss of line lading while in transit. The side margins are vertical and the end margins 19' inclined so as to effectively discharge the lading when the door is open, as shown in dotted lines at the right of Fig. 7.

The construction shown in Fig. 10 resembles that of Figs. 1, 2, and 3 in that we employ operating-shafts 10 and wheels 13 for turning a worm 9, which meshes with a wormwheel 8 on the shaft 5". Each door is connected with its shaft by a chain 14", but the shafts are mounted in stationary bearings. In order to elevate the door to its full height, we connect the chain with adownwardly-projecting bracket 20 on the door.

Within the scope of our invention as defined in the claims the construction of the parts may be modified in many ways by the skilled mechanic, since Vhat We claim is- 1. Car-door mechanism comprising in combination with the door, a lifting-shaft, and a connection therefrom to the door, said shaft being movable by said connection into sup-' porting position when the door is raised; substantially as described.

2. Car-door mechanism comprising in combination with the door,a lifting-shaft, mounted to roll in laterally-extending bearings, and a connection extending therefrom to the door; substantially as described.

3. Car-door mechanism comprising in combination with the doorgtlifting-shaft,mounted to roll in laterally-extending bearings and arranged to be rotated therein in direction away from the door, and a connection extending therefrom to the door; substantially as described.

4. Car-door mechanism comprising in combination with the door, a lifting-shaft, located below the door when closed, a chain extending directly from the lifting-shaft to the door, an operating-shaft, and a connecting wormgearing engaging the lifting-shaft; substantially as described.

5. Gar-door mechanism comprising in combination with the door, a lifting-shaft having a bearing at the push-pocket of the car; substantially as described.

6. (Jar-door mechanism comprising in combination with the door, a lifting-shaft, mounted to roll in inclined bearings, and a connection extending therefrom to the door; substantially as described.

7 Car-door mechanism comprising in combination with the door, a lifting-shaft, mounted to roll in laterally-extending bearings, and a connection extending therefrom to the door, said shaft having rollers; substantially as described.

8. Car-door mechanism comprising in combination with the door, a lifting-shaft, and a connection therefrom to the door, said shaft being movable into supporting position when r the door is raised, the'door having an inclined margin for engagement with the shaft; substantially as described. y

9. (Jar-door mechanism comprising in combination with the door, a lifting-shaft, and a connection therefrom to the door, said shaft being movable into supporting position when the door is raised, the door having an inclined margin for engagement with rollers on the shaft; substantially as described.

10. Car door mechanism comprising in combination with a door a lifting-shaft, and a connection therefrom to the door, said shaft being movable into supporting position when the door is raised, the door and shaft having serrated engaging portions; substantially as described.

11. Car door mechanism comprising in combination with the'door, a lifting-shaft, and a connection therefrom to the door, said shaft being movable into supporting position when the door is raised, operating-gear, and a sliding frame carrying the shaft and gear; substantially as described.

12. Car door mechanism comprising in combination with the door, a lifting-shaft, a

connection therefrom to the door, said shaft being movable into supporting position when the door is raised, operating worm-gear, and

a sliding frame carrying the shaft and gear; substantially as described.

13. Car-door mechanism having a liftingshaft arranged to support the door directly when the door is raised and a flexible connecr stantially as described.

CHARLES A. LINDSTRQM. JOHN F. STREIB.

Witnesses:

K. L. RoBINsoN, FRANK DITOHFIELD. 

